


Lacquer Protection

by AtzenMeirge



Series: The Tick Drabbles [2]
Category: The Tick (TV 2017), The Tick - All Media Types
Genre: Arthur has a nervous tick, Dot is a good sister, Gen, I looked around the house for a prompt and saw nail polish so, It's perfect because it doesn't make sense, Nail Polish, Sneaking Around, badum-tss!, random thugs - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:13:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27692617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AtzenMeirge/pseuds/AtzenMeirge
Summary: Fighting alongside the nervous habit of picking his nails and, at worst, biting makes his fingers hurt. With the helpful tip from Dot, he tries strengthening his nails by painting them. If Tick walks in on him painting his nails, it would only make sense that he’d ask to join.
Relationships: Arthur Everest & The Tick (The Tick)
Series: The Tick Drabbles [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2021905
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	Lacquer Protection

The warehouse was dark but buzzing with life. It was also quite a full warehouse too, big, cloth-covered boxes and temporary walls everywhere to give off the slight resemblance of an estate building. It was falsely elegant but it still held class.

This place was one of the multiple plant/storehouses that Chairface owned. Overkill had hoped to just bust into the mobster's base and attack but Dangerboat had advised against it, backed up with reason which the sharpshooter hadn't had.

And now here Arthur was, along with his sister, Dot, as the scouters; Tick and Overkill waiting impatiently outside. It should be noted that Overkill was, in fact, patient, but since he had to be stuck with Tick it was no longer present.

Dot peeked behind one of the many big, clothed boxes they were hid behind.

"Do you see anything? An opening?" Arthur whispered. He leaned nervously closer to Dot as he was not sure what to do with himself but to keep pressed up against the box.

"No...," she trailed off as she searched. She turned back to Arthur and sighed. "There's way too many of them."

"There's gotta be something."

It was then, for the umpteenth time, that Dot saw he brother try to pick at his nails through his gloves. She knew it was a nervous tick he had, though she didn't see it often, but since going on missions and Arthur fighting crime, it was a constant thing to see.

If the hands pulling away and readjusting carefully was any indication, his nails must be damaged as they seem to be catching on the inside of his gloves.

"Are your fingers okay?" she asked, turning to peek again.

"Oh, uh," he hadn't expected his sister to catch him, "not-- not really, but I can work with it. It's nothing too bad."

There was no response as Dot clearly saw something and waved for Arthur to go with a quick "C'mon!"

Across the room they went, slipping into another and hiding behind some stacked boxes. This place and boxes- it was just that this one was made up of smaller versions and not covered. They were carrying ammo. It was only then when they had to stop that Dot spoke again.

"You should put some clear coat on your nails."

"Huh?"

"It will help strengthen your nails. It's what I use... and Overkill- but don't tell him I told you that. He'll throw a tantrum."

"Oh, I know he already paints his nails. Or you do it for him, considering the lilly on his ring finger looks a lot like the ones you make."

She turned her head to him with a look of silent surprise and nodded, "Good eyes." Arthur, amused, rolled his eyes behind his glasses.

She was sorely interrupted by a loud boom followed by heavy, crumbling rubble hitting the ground.

"Alright! I've waited long enough! Evil doers: prepare to face justice! I am the Tick!"

The two siblings sighed in unison at the boisterous spectacle. So much for the sneaking about. Now everyone was on high alert as people were thrown left and right into their friends by the big blue bug himself, the friends being shot dead on the ground.

"I'll get you the polish later," Dot concluded as she swung out her arm and clothes-hangered a guy passing by. She quickly joined the fray, Arthur hesitantly joining too.

It was the day after that Arthur got the nail polish, well, he got more than just the clear coat. His sister had also given him a number of colors, stating she either didn't need them or want them anymore. He had to carry them in a bag.

Dot had also informed him of how to apply it and what to do and use to remove it.

Now he was at the dining table, at night, uncapping the clear coat as the TV played in the other room. He was tired too, but he didn't care too much if he applied it sloppy. He could clean any of it off his skin while it was still wet; Dot called this the Russian method.

The first finger went alright. He sort of knew how to apply it just from watching his sister a number of times. First time may be the charm as the second went a little worse as his hand shook incrementally.

He repeated this, occasionally cleaning up any lacquer that got onto his skin. By the time he got to the color he didn't have to concentrate as much. That was thoroughly snapped as heavy steps creaked on the linoleum flooring.

He looked up as Tick asked, "Whatch'ya doin', chum?" Arthur was appreciative that he was speaking in a quieter voice.

"Painting my nails. Hopefully it'll help protect them from breaking."

Tick crouched down to inspect his sidekick's hands. Arthur moved to display them for him. The big man hummed.

"That looks great Arthur. Can I have my nails painted too?"

Arthur was not surprised. He looked to his friend's own hands. They didn't show any nail outline, it was just flat. However, he thought he could see a slight hint of one but it might just be his mind rationalizing what the hand was supposed to look like.

"Tick, I don't think you _have_ nails."

"Oh," was all the blue man said as he scrutinized his hand, eyes, eyebrows and antennae pointed down at it. He was playing around with the knowledge that he didn't have such things.

This fact was just another thing that added to Arthur's counter that Tick's suit was probably not a suit. Either that, or his nails were removed.

He shook his head: he didn't want to think further on that. "We can still paint them."

The Tick breathed in air to exclaim his excitement but Arthur spoke again, having already anticipated the man's reaction.

" _Hey, hey_ \- It's not _that_ kind of paint. It's _special paint_."

"Special paint..."

"Yes, special paint. That's why they sell it in smaller bottles." This probably wasn't completely a lie, but he didn't want a whole mess that was hard to clean up and the polish to be wasted. He wanted no finger painting done to his table or any other part of this apartment, thank you.

"Oooohhh... I see," the blue man nodded.

"So it has to be applied gently. Sit down and get yourself comfortable and I'll do you nails."

The back of the chair was lifted and pulled before it was dropped and an ungodly weight sat upon it. Scooching forward, Tick laid both forearms on the table at the smaller man.

"Alright... what color would you like?" He wasn't going to do the whole multiple coats of different lacquer like he had: Tick wasn't very patient. Besides, it would probably be ruined upon the first villain they came across if nothing else happened before that.

There was some contemplative hum as the larger hero considered the options on the table.

Arthur waited and watched patiently. Every now and then Tick would pick up a few and look closely before placing them back down, his antennae moving around with every thought and emotion that surfaced.

It had been a long while now and it seemed like he hadn't made any progress in his decision. Maybe this was too much for him? There _was_ quite a selection.

"How about I just apply this one?" he held up the light orange polish, "I haven't finished painting mine anyways."

"Heh heh! Twinsies!" Tick said as he unscrewed the cap.

The massive hands were once again placed in front of him on the table and Arthur got close to carefully hover the brush over the "nail". Then he rethought his actions and pulled away again.

The moth-man hummed and gently lifted Tick's compliant hand. Tick himself liked to watch as his friend's gears turned inside that small but expansive head of his, no matter how small the puzzle. He allowed the man to curl his fingers a bit and bring it closer to his face.

The paint-filled brush was carefully lowered and gently brushed atop the end of his thumb.

Arthur seized a breath as the liquid quickly rolled and spread off to the sides and were threatening to fall onto his table.

"No!" was all he could exclaim. However, before the paint could drop and ruin his table forever, Tick, the hero that he is, clasped his fingers around his thumb.

"Phew! That was a close one, chum! No amount of dastardly paint is going to mar this table!" The day was saved, his table unmarked by the injustice of one, singular orange spot. It wouldn't have been the worst thing to have been damaged in his home, though, considering the state of the walls.

He sighed in relief anyways. Tick gently moved around his fingers, presumably feeling the liquid. Oh, right, there was still polish in his hand.

"I'll get you a napkin," he said, quickly getting up and making the chair clatter against the floor in his haste.

Polish cleaned, Arthur sat back down to finish coating his own nails as Tick watched. It was quiet up until he screwed the cap, and when he looked up the big and usually loud man was gazing at his drying nails.

It clicked. "Oh, you wanted to be... 'twinsies', huh?"

Tick smiled reassuringly but Arthur could still see the disappointment in his eyes.

"Nah, I'll be alright, Arthur. Nail polish just isn't for me I suppose. Like you said, I don't even have nails."

And just like that the superhero accepted this new-found fact.

But Arthur pondered further. There was a solution to this problem.

"There _are_ fake nails. I wonder if I can find any big enough to fit your hand- _and_ that are close to this shade of orange."

There was a lot of joyous praising of Arthur's intelligence and a fallen chair before the lights went out that night.

* * *

~Extra~

It was amazing what you could find looking through C-Bay when you really need something specific. There was an older lady selling a large box of clear plastic nails of practically all sizes that Arthur was sure hasn't been sold in a few decades. It was the only thing he could really find and it would have to do.

When the nails came, he pained the largest ones in the box before presenting them to the Tick.

The big blue man sat excitedly at the table as Arthur applied them with superglue. He was relieved that they stayed on after the glue cured, though it had to be applied to the nail first before applying it to Tick's hand.

In the end, his new nails stuck "out like a sore thumb", Tick noted to which Arthur breathed past that most likely unintentional pun. But it was true, the orange _did_ stick out against his blue self.

They had patrol, but it wasn't until next day's rounds that they ran into a villain. She called herself Womanishion and she had already demolished two buildings and a hot-dog cart.

She had little to no armor besides the hard hat and decorative metal bars over her shoulders and upper torso, but that didn't stop her from being somewhat difficult to take down.

In the end, Arthur had tied her wrists behind her back on the mottled road. She was looking very out of it, having been dealt a normal one of Tick's punches to the forehead which did her in.

Behind him Tick grumbled and he turned to see what was the matter.

"Aw, I broke a nail," he said forlorn, looking at his hands as the one on his pinky sadly teetered and fell to the ground. It was obvious that it wasn't just ' _a_ nail' that had broken.

A chuckle took Arthur by surprise. He never anticipated his friend having to say that ever.

**Author's Note:**

> More to come! Look forward to it. Comments are nice to have... very.  
> Surprisingly nail polish wasn't that hard of a prompt to work with- it was quite easy actually. Probably because the absurdity of it pairs well with The Tick in general.


End file.
